1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to providing a stitching guide and, more particularly, to providing a stitching guide for stitching a design onto a piece of fabric.
2. Statement of the Problem
When sewing fabric, it is often desirable to stitch a particular design onto the fabric. This is particularly desirable when sewing a quilt. Such stitching provides a means both for sewing a design on the surface of the fabric or quilt and for attaching together the layers of the quilt "sandwich" (generally made of two layers of fabric with a batting material therebetween). It is also often desirable to repeat the design on more than one portion of the fabric.
It is possible to stitch a design onto a piece of fabric by freehand, but this can be slow and often designs cannot be repeated in other locations if desired. It is also difficult to produce and reproduce an ornate design by this method. To solve these problems, sewers have used various apparatuses and methods to stitch a design into fabric.
For example, on light-colored fabric, a design can be traced on the fabric by placing the fabric over a printed design and tracing the design on the fabric with a marker such as a pen or pencil, or by using a revolving wheel to impress lines into the fabric. The tracing is then sewn over by machine or hand sewing. Once the sewing is completed, however, it is usually necessary to remove the tracing made by pen or pencil from the fabric, and this can be difficult to achieve without leaving permanent marks on the fabric. The impression method has the drawback of being temporary, such that the tracing will often disappear from the fabric before the stitching of the design is completed.
With darker fabrics and fabrics having a simple pattern, a similar method can be utilized by using a light box under the paper with the printed design to enable the design to show through the fabric for tracing. However, it is sometimes difficult to see a tracing of a design on patterned fabric, as no method of marking can be seen on all types of patterned fabrics. The problem of removing the tracing after sewing remains. For very dark fabrics or those with busy patterns, it can sometimes be impossible to see through the fabric in order to trace the design on the fabric, even when using a light box.
To avoid the problem of having to use a light box to mark designs on fabric, a stencil having a design cut into it can be used. Such stencils are conventionally made of fairly stiff plastic with the design cut into the plastic, as exemplified by the "EZ Quilting Template," manufactured by EZ International, 85 South St., W. Warren, Mass. The stencil is laid atop the fabric, and a marker is used to trace the design on the fabric. The fabric can be separate, or it can already be formed into a quilting sandwich before the stencil is applied. Again, there remains the difficulty of removing the markings after sewing over the design. There is also the difficulty of securely attaching the stiff plastic stencil to the fabric, so that it does not slip while the design is traced.
A sewer could also stitch directly through the channels in the stencil. However, the channels are not continuous but are interrupted at frequent intervals by uncut portions, as can be seen in the "EZ Quilting Template." At these uncut portions, the sewer must stop sewing, tie off the thread, and move the needle to the next channel and start sewing again. This is slow and awkward and results in sewn designs with significant gaps along the line of stitching, causing an unaesthetic effect and allowing batting to migrate if the design is being sewn as part of a quilt sandwich. Again, the difficulty of securely yet reversibly attaching the stencil to the fabric may lead to problems such as misplacing of the stitches if the stencil slips while sewing.
Another problem with tracing a design onto the fabric, whether by using a tracing under the fabric or by placing a stencil on the fabric, is the time involved, especially if the design is complicated. This problem is multiplied when a complicated design is repeated many times on the fabric.
Attempts have been made to solve these problems. Sewing guides have been developed that can be attached to pieces of fabric. One such guide is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,939. The guide disclosed in this patent has an upper unit and a lower unit, which are placed on opposite sides of the fabric to be sewn and clamped together. The upper and lower units have a plurality of perforations through which a needle and thread can be passed through the fabric without at the same time stitching the guide to the fabric. When the sewing is completed, the upper and lower units are removed. The guide disclosed in the '939 patent can only be used with hand sewing, and not with machine sewing.
Another type of sewing guide is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,986,390. Here, pieces of fabric to be sewn into a garment are clamped between an upper unit and a lower unit. The lower unit is smaller than the upper unit, so that the edges of the upper unit overlap the edges of the lower unit. The edges of the upper unit have a number of slots cut into them, along which the sewer can stitch a seam. The needle and thread pass through the slot and the underlying fabric, but do not touch the lower unit due to the overlap. This sewing guide is also suitable only for hand sewing. When the seams are sewn, the guide is removed.
As taught by the "EZ Stitch-Thru" system, manufactured by EZ International, 95 Mayhill St., Saddle Brook, N.J., designs can be printed onto sheets of paper that are then attached to the fabric. The sewer stitches along the outline of the design with a threaded needle. After the stitching is completed, the paper is torn away. In a variation of this, as disclosed in the book "Trapunto by Machine," the sewer first stitches along the design with an unthreaded needle, thus puncturing the paper with multiple small holes along the lines of the design. The paper is then attached to the fabric and machine stitched with a threaded needle. When stitching is completed, the paper is torn away along the lines of stitching. However, in both cases it is difficult to remove all the pieces of paper when tearing the sheet away from the fabric after stitching, as the thread tends to capture small portions of the paper underneath the stitches.
It is therefore desirable to provide a stitching guide that enables a design to be sewn on a piece of fabric without having to first mark the design on the fabric. It is also desirable to provide a stitching guide that can be easily attached to the fabric and with which a design can be sewn on the fabric in multiple locations. Hand sewing, especially with complicated designs, can be slow, so being able to use a stitching guide with a sewing machine to sew a design on fabric would also be advantageous. Finally, a stitching guide is needed that can be completely removed from the fabric after the design is sewn.
3. Solution to the Problem
The present invention solves these problems by providing a stitching guide comprising a flexible sheet of material such as relatively thin paper. A design is placed in the flexible sheet by cutting perforations of a predetermined size into the flexible sheet. The stitching guide is easily attached to any type of fabric by using, for example, straight pins or other conventional means of attachment. The design is then stitched onto the fabric by hand stitching or with a sewing machine by directing the needle to follow along the perforations cut into the stitching guide. The stitching guide is then easily removed from the fabric by tearing the flexible sheet apart along the line of the perforations without leaving any traces.